The Noble Art of Music
The Noble Art of Music sets two Martin Luther quotations as a bright, uplifting choral fanfare celebrating the joy of singing. Commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Artists, it unfolds in clear panels—urgent, then stately, before opening into a broad final statement—making a crisp, welcoming opener for almost any program.
“As long as we live, there is never enough singing.”
At a glance
- SATB • a cappella • c. 2′
- Difficulty: moderate
- For strong HS, university, community choirs
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| Language: | English |
| Instrumentation: | A Cappella |
| Sacred or Secular: | Secular |
| Descriptive Tags: | Community, Exhilaration, Inspiration, Music About Music, Praise, PROJECT : ENCORE, Singing |
| Voicing: | SATB |
$0.00 – $2.00Price range: $0.00 through $2.00
This title is available in print or for immediate download. For both options, there is a minimum required quantity of 8 copies for choral titles. Please support self-publishing composers by ordering the quantity according to the number of singers in the ensemble that will perform the work.
Print orders are printed on demand and shipped by our printing partner, and can be expected to be processed within a few days of the order. Please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] to follow up.
Explore More Music…
Title | View | Voicing | Duration | Language | Composer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2' 37" | This new setting of the traditional Latin prayer features traditional harmonies and a simple unhurried rhythm, providing ample space for prayer and contemplation of the one blessed among women. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This new setting of the traditional Latin prayer features traditional harmonies and a simple unhurried rhythm, providing ample space for prayer and contemplation of the one blessed among women. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 2' 3" | English | This setting is ideally suited for a good chamber choir with a high soprano soloist. Julie Myers’ beautiful poem suggests to the composer a journey from darkness to light, from despair to hope, and this is reflected in the music, which should be performed simply, but with expressiveness and conviction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This setting is ideally suited for a good chamber choir with a high soprano soloist. Julie Myers’ beautiful poem suggests to the composer a journey from darkness to light, from despair to hope, and this is reflected in the music, which should be performed simply, but with expressiveness and conviction. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equal Voices ⋅ SSAA | Each round 1′30″ to 2′ (in performance) | English ⋅ Latin | The clear, rinsed sound of Women’s voices is hardly more thrilling than in the recital of rounds. And when the rounds offer plenty of movement among the parts, as do most in this collection, the effect can be delightful. These twelve rounds, set largely to medieval texts, are of varying difficulty and may require rehearsal. […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The clear, rinsed sound of Women’s voices is hardly more thrilling than in the recital of rounds. And when the rounds offer plenty of movement among the parts, as do most in this collection, the effect can be delightful. These twelve rounds, set largely to medieval texts, are of varying difficulty and may require rehearsal. […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equal Voices ⋅ SSAA | Each round 1′30″ to 2′ (in performance) | English | The sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Britain form a golden age of round-singing; even the nineteenth provided some fine examples. These twelve rounds, set to texts by Shakespeare, Skelton, Swift, Dryden, Johnson, Carroll and Synge, are of varying difficulty and may require rehearsal. Keeping as they do to the style of the period, they […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Britain form a golden age of round-singing; even the nineteenth provided some fine examples. These twelve rounds, set to texts by Shakespeare, Skelton, Swift, Dryden, Johnson, Carroll and Synge, are of varying difficulty and may require rehearsal. Keeping as they do to the style of the period, they […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3' 19" | Choral elegy in memory of friend and fellow musician Haskell Fitz-Simons. The text speaks of lost opportunities to tell those in our lives how dear they are to us while they are still here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Choral elegy in memory of friend and fellow musician Haskell Fitz-Simons. The text speaks of lost opportunities to tell those in our lives how dear they are to us while they are still here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SSAA | 4'30" | Latin | Commissioned premiere performance at Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco) by the San Francisco Girls Chorus. The explosive Lang work was appropriately contrasted by the excellent, gentle and more subtle O Magnum Mysterium by Kurt Erickson. This world premiere was commissioned by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Here the “mystery” part of the thematic trinity […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commissioned premiere performance at Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco) by the San Francisco Girls Chorus. The explosive Lang work was appropriately contrasted by the excellent, gentle and more subtle O Magnum Mysterium by Kurt Erickson. This world premiere was commissioned by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Here the “mystery” part of the thematic trinity […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4' 40" | The familiar words, “It came upon a midnight clear”, are set to a lively tune, with piano accompaniment, and a simple refrain is added, with the words “Deo, Deo, Gloria in excelsis Deo” (“Glory to God in the highest”). Written with women’s voices in mind, it could also be tackled by a good children’s choir. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The familiar words, “It came upon a midnight clear”, are set to a lively tune, with piano accompaniment, and a simple refrain is added, with the words “Deo, Deo, Gloria in excelsis Deo” (“Glory to God in the highest”). Written with women’s voices in mind, it could also be tackled by a good children’s choir. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 5' | English | Word painting of a raw, intense poem by Paul Cummings is the essence of this homage to the miracle of music, which begins: Your harmony invades my being; / my body is captured by the embrace / of a melody that leads me out of dark places. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Word painting of a raw, intense poem by Paul Cummings is the essence of this homage to the miracle of music, which begins: Your harmony invades my being; / my body is captured by the embrace / of a melody that leads me out of dark places. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SSA | 2'45" | English | “To Soar” was premiered on June 3 and 9, 2018 in New York City by Accord Treble Choir, directed by Liz Geisewite. A live recording appears on Accord’s 2019 album Celestial & Terrestrial. I chose this poem by Walt Whitman to fit the theme of Accord’s June 2018 concert program “On Wings.” The piece squeezes […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| “To Soar” was premiered on June 3 and 9, 2018 in New York City by Accord Treble Choir, directed by Liz Geisewite. A live recording appears on Accord’s 2019 album Celestial & Terrestrial. I chose this poem by Walt Whitman to fit the theme of Accord’s June 2018 concert program “On Wings.” The piece squeezes […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3'30" | Nearly every December, Christmas sneaks up on me far too quickly, busy as I am with end-of-semester grading and final exams. I’m an admittedly nostalgic guy who unabashedly loves Christmas music, and every year I think to myself ‘I really should have written a Christmas piece this year’. Christmas 2015 followed a similar pattern, except […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nearly every December, Christmas sneaks up on me far too quickly, busy as I am with end-of-semester grading and final exams. I’m an admittedly nostalgic guy who unabashedly loves Christmas music, and every year I think to myself ‘I really should have written a Christmas piece this year’. Christmas 2015 followed a similar pattern, except […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||